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Eddie And Sheena \/ Bad In Bed \/ Hot Blood \/ Worry Wart \/ 28 Model T \/ Out Of Control<\/a><\/p>\n Max’s Kansas City \/ On The Crest \/ Plain Of Nazca \/ Big Black Widow \/ Take It \/ Rock And Roll Resurrection<\/a><\/p>\n The Electric Chairs were one of those band’s where the frontman \/ woman is just slightly more interesting than the actual music performed. This debut LP by the band\u00a0has a fair amount of New York Dolls style riffing along with a bag load\u00a0of snotty attitude.\u00a0\u00a0Of course we must remember that Wayne County\u00a0could not be in any way guilty of directly robbing the Doll’s of their ideas as Wayne County was there at the helm of the New York punk scene from the start, mixing it up with the Warhol elite as well as the embyonic New York Dolls themselves. The Doll’s may well have copied Wayne County as a role model for the material and the image that they later released onto the world!<\/p>\n ‘Bad In Bed’ and ‘Hot Blood’, the latter featuring Jools Holland, then of Squeeze on piano are the closet to the New York Dolls sound. My personal favorites on this LP are ‘Out Of Control’, ‘On The Crest’ and the final track ‘Rock And Roll Resurrection’.<\/p>\n Text below robbed and battered into shape by myself from Da Wikk.<\/p>\n Born Wayne Rogers in 1947, County left her hometown of Dallas, Georgia in 1968 to move to New York City, where she became a regular at the Stonewall Inn and took part in the historic riots. In 1969, County was asked by Warhol superstar and playwright Jackie Curtis to appear in her play, \u2018Femme Fatale\u2019, at the La Ma Ma Experimental Theatre Club, which also starred Patti Smith. In her autobiography, County says of Curtis, “She was my biggest influence, the person who really got me started.” After a successful run of \u2018Femme Fatale\u2019, County wrote \u2018World – Birth Of A Nation\u2019 which she also appeared in, bringing her to the attention of Andy Warhol, who cast her in his own theatrical production, \u2018Pork\u2019. After a run in New York, the play, with the New York cast, was performed in London. Upon returning to New York, County appeared in another play, \u2018Island\u2019, by Tony Ingrassia, again with Patti Smith.<\/p>\n \u00a0 In 1972 County formed Queen Elizabeth, one of the pioneering protopunk bands. Despite being signed to MainMan Artistes LTD, David Bowie’s management firm, no records were ever produced. The company spent over $200,000 to film the 1974 stage show, \u2018Wayne at the Trucks\u2019, the footage of which has never been released. The show featured numerous costume changes and some of County’s raunchiest material. Eight songs from the show were released on the 2006 CD, \u2018Wayne County At The Trucks\u2019, on Munster Records. The show is claimed by County to have been the inspiration for Bowie’s \u2018Diamond Dogs\u2019 tour. In particular, County maintains that the song \u2018Queenage Baby\u2019 was a prototype for Bowie’s song \u2018Rebel Rebel\u2019, a claim which is supported by some rock critics.<\/p>\n In 1974 she formed Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, which recorded three tracks for \u2018Max’s Kansas City: New York New Wave\u2019, a compilation LP that also featured Suicide, Pere Ubu, Cherry Vanilla and The Fast. Wayne County and The Backstreet Boys played regularly at CBGB\u2019s and Max’s Kansas City, where County was also a DJ. An EP \u2018Max’s Kansas City: New York New Wave\u2019 was released in 1975.<\/p>\n In 1976, she appeared in the film \u2018The Blank Generation\u2019, directed by Amos Poe and Ivan Kral. The film, the recording and the shows were the beginnings of what came to be known as punk rock, and helped define the movement.<\/p>\n In 1977, County moved to London, where the English punk scene was just emerging, and formed Wayne County & the Electric Chairs. County released the EP \u2018Electric Chairs in \u00a01977\u2019, plus a single on Illegal Records \u2018Stuck On You \/ Paranoia Paradise\u2019. This was followed by \u2018Fuck Off\u2019, recorded as a single for Sweet FA Records after Safari Records had trouble releasing the product. This single was supported with a European tour.<\/p>\n While in London, County met Derek Jarman, who cast her as \u2018Lounge Lizard\u2019 in the seminal punk film, \u2018Jubilee\u2019, which also starred Adam Ant, Toyah Wilcox, Ian Charleson and Jordan. County and band are also featured in \u2018The Punk Rock Movie\u2019, by Don Letts, containing part of a 1977 performance at The Roxy club in London. Wayne also got coverage in the mainstream music weekly papers as well as punk fanzines like ‘Ripped And Torn’.<\/p>\n Shortly after this, Wayne County and The Electric Chairs recorded their first, self-titled album, \u2018The Electric Chairs\u2019 which Summer Salt fanzine described in 1978 thus \u201cIts hard curbing my enthusiasm for this album…Influences abound here… \u2018Eddie & Sheena\u2019 starts off as tongue in cheek 50’s rock’n’roll ballad…Blues, quite strongly, and even doo wop show their faces, \u201828″ Model T\u2019 being a hilarious vocal harmony number about a…car. The one group written song is \u2018Big Black Window\u2019 that slides along supported by a crawling bass riff, \u2018Max’s Kansas City\u2019 is done again… giving a name check to some of the artists who gig \/ gigged there….Wayne turns fearsome for \u2018Rockn ‘n’ Roll Resurrection\u2019, about dead rock ‘n’ rollers like Hendrix, Joplin and Brian Jones ‘Rock me Jesus \/ roll me lord \/ wash me in the blood of rock ‘n’ roll’… Squeezer Jools Holland appears on \u2018Hot Blood\u2019, adding slick bar room piano backing……Val Haller – bass & JJ Johnson – drums really know their stuff, always spot on during all the songs…Cook is perhaps the main ingredient always keeping a grip on riffs but also making space for solos and hooks…this band have humour (and) skill…”.<\/p>\n 1979 also saw the release of an EP, \u2018Blatantly Offensive\u2019, which contained \u2018Fuck Off\u2019 and \u2018Toilet Love\u2019.<\/p>\n After touring they recorded the second LP \u2018Storm The Gates Of Heaven\u2019 which the NME described thus \u201cAnalyse this record and it begins to sound like a total farce. But just listen to it and its fun, angry and committed, its witty, its tacky its awful and finally and somehow its brilliant…and the Electric Chairs now with Eliott Michaels and Henry Padovani on guitars do a great job carrying the album along on pure surging rock.”.<\/p>\n The next LP, released in 1979, was \u2018Things Your Mother Never Told You\u2019, which featured several songs based on County’s experiences in Germany. This material was recorded with the more adventurous David Cunningham of the Flying Lizards at the helm. Freed from the rock ‘n’ roll boogie, the ribald and the over top entertainership this LP is a combination of a group and of its leader in transition.<\/p>\n The latter literally as Wayne was now firmly on the road to being a she and Jayne.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sides are separated into ‘Them’ & ‘Us’ indicative of how Wayne viewed his place in Rock and his feelings as a transsexual. After it was released, the band broke up and County, along with guitarist Eliot Michaels, returned to the U.S.<\/p>\n It was at this time that she changed her stage name to \u2018Jayne County\u2019 and began self-identifying as a woman. The final release by County on Safari Records, \u2018Rock and Roll Resurrection (In Concert)\u2019, was under this new name. Sahari Records paid for half of Wayne \/ Jayne\u2019s sex change operation, Jayne left the recording company complaining that the company should have paid for all of the operation.<\/p>\n The compilation LP \u2018Max’s Kansas City: New York New Wave\u2019 mentioned in the text above may be listened to<\/strong> HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i192.photobucket.com\/albums\/z149\/pengy1966\/KYPP1085.jpg\")
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